Rio Tinto's iron ore Q2 shipments reach 88.5 million tonnes

By Dale Benton
One of the world’s leading mining companies has released its second quarter results, and its iron ore production has skyrocketed. Rio Tinto announce...

One of the world’s leading mining companies has released its second quarter results, and its iron ore production has skyrocketed.

Rio Tinto announced in its Q2 results that its iron ore shipments were 14% higher than they were in the same quarter last year, rising up to 88.5 million tonnes through to June 2018;

This increase has also had an affect on the company’s projected 2018 iron ore shipment guidance, with Rio Tinto anticipating somewhere between 330 to 340 tonnes by the end of 2018.

What is the secret to this success?

Rather modestly, the company has pointed to better weather which in turn has resulted in a system wide boost in productivity.

Rio Tinto chief executive J-S Jacques said “Operational performance was solid across most commodities, rounding out a strong first half performance for the Group. Our increasingly flexible Pilbara iron ore system continued to perform well.”
 

Related stories:

Rio Tinto completes first autonomous train shipment for AutoRail programme

Rio Tinto enters Joint Venture with China Minmetals Corporation

Rio Tinto completes $300 million sale of Winchester South coal mine

 

Of course its not just iron ore. Rio Tinto also reported a 3% increase in bauxite production (13.3 million tonnes) with a further increase of third party shipments (8.7 million tonnes.)

Looking at copper production, 156.8 thousand tonnes represented a 26% increase, with Escondida noted for its strong production levels.

“Our bauxite and copper businesses also delivered strong operating results, demonstrating the success of our ongoing mine-to-market productivity programme, which is increasingly important in an environment of rising cost inflation. Our sustained focus on cash generation, combined with disciplined capital allocation, will ensure we continue to deliver superior returns to our shareholders across the short, medium and long term,” added Jacques.

Share

Featured Articles

Environmental certification for Lundin's Candelaria mine

Lundin Mining Corp has announced approval of an EIA to extend operations at the Candelaria copper mining complex in Chile

Lithium Africa and Ganfeng Lithium join hands in Africa

Lithium Africa Resources Corp. and China's Ganfeng Lithium Group Ltd. have created a 50/50 joint venture to accelerate lithium exploration and development

Mesh tech keeps Copper Mountain Mine going during outage

Rajant's Kinetic Mesh networking, BreadCrumb wireless nodes and InstaMesh networking software kept the mine safe at a critical time earlier this year

Diamond mine supports Yellowknife wildfire communities

Sustainability

Launch of China's first mining satellite developed with XCMC

Technology

Perpetua Resources to sign USA Department of Defense deal

Supply Chain & Operations